(3.2) Idiomaitc English -- Idioms

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Aug 7, 2017 00:37

Some English idioms originated from English classics, such as Shakespeare’s works (pound of flesh, wear my heart upon my sleeve), and George Orwell’s works (Big Brother). But the number of idioms in this category is not on a par with that of in Chinese.* This is because, I extrapolate, English changes phonetically over time, and thus ancient English texts from thousands of years ago might become nearly unintelligible to the average layman, whereas most native Chinese speakers can intuitively understand the meanings of chengyus, i.e. four-character idioms (mostly ancient Chinese in origin), because characters don’t change much.

Some English idioms have interesting stories behind them, like “catch-22,” or come from fables such as Greek myths (Achilles’ heel). The same is true of Chinese; we have a good number of idioms with background stories that may take many words to tell.

In terms of borrowing foreign words to form idioms, English, as a phonetic language, is more assimilative than Chinese. In English, there are many foreign idioms or idioms that include foreign words. For example, “Cest' La Vie/en route/a tour de force” from French, “Hasta la vista,” and “enchilada” from Spanish as in “a big enchilada,” and “caboodle” from Dutch as in “the whole kit and caboodle.”

*I’d like to translate a Tang dynasty poem here some day, and show you how many idioms from a single piece are stilled used today.

But the number of this type is not on a par with that in Chinese.* This is because, I extrapolate, English changes phonetically over time, and thus ancient English texts from thousands of years ago might become nearly unintelligible to the average layman, whereas most native Chinese speakers can intuitively understand the meanings of chengyu, i.

But the number of this typeidioms in this category is not on a par with that of in Chinese.* This is because, I extrapolate, English changes phonetically over time, and thus ancient English texts from thousands of years ago might become nearly unintelligible to the average layman, whereas most native Chinese speakers can intuitively understand the meanings of chengyus, i.

"Number of this type" means the type is assigned some number, like "type number 1".

That’s understandable, because I once corrected some Chinese expressions here, and looking back, those might be Taiwanese usage.

That’s understandable, because I once corrected some Chinese expressions here, and looking back, those might be (of) Taiwanese usage.

Although I stopped memorizing that dictionary, the general knowledge of idioms has given me the feel of English.

Although I stopped memorizing that dictionary, the general knowledge of idioms has given me thea feel of English.

"Give X a feel of Y"

(I just take that as a natural, alternative expression.) For example, when I encountered an expression “has a leg up from the get-go” a couple of months ago while listening to the NPR news, I instantly knew it means “has an advantage from the very beginning.”

(I just take that as a natural, alternative expression.) For example, when I encountered anthe expression “has a leg up from the get-go” a couple of months ago while listening to the NPR news, I instantly knew it means/meant “has an advantage from the very beginning.”

*I’d like to translate a Tang dynasty poem here in future, and show you how many idioms from a single piece are stilled used today.

*I’d like to translate a Tang dynasty poem here in the future, and show you how many idioms from a single piece are stilled used today.

Very well written! :-)I know that 三国演义 is a source of a lot of idioms. Found it rather nice to run into idioms that I knew already and see their source.

But the number of idioms in this category is not on a par with that of in Chinese.* This is because, I extrapolate, English changes phonetically over time, and thus ancient English texts from thousands of years ago might become nearly unintelligible to the average layman, whereas most native Chinese speakers can intuitively understand the meanings of chengyus, i.

But the number of idioms in this category (in English)is not on a par with that of in Chinese.* This is because, I extrapolate, English [changes / has changed] phonetically over time, and thus ancient English texts from thousands of years ago might have become nearly unintelligible to the average layman (today), whereas most (modern) native Chinese speakers can intuitively understand the meanings of chengyus, i.

The English language is usually considered to have started around 450 AD, so there's no such thing as an English text from "thousands" of years ago. :-)

2) The English language is usually considered to have started around 450 AD,-- Ahhh..... English is so much younger than I thought!! And I binged "Beowulf' and found it to be produced between 975 and 1025... So young!!

Yeah, English is a bit of an upstart compared to other languages. I guess that's what makes it so popular---it's still a new fad.;-) just kidding

By the way, I know what you mean by "binged" (like "googled" but using the Bing search engine), but you might want to be careful how you use it since "binge/binged" is also a word with a long history. If you had written that you "binged Sherlock Holmes last night," I would have assumed you'd binge-watched the BBC TV series. :-)

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Some English idioms originated from English classics, such as Shakespeare’s works (pound of flesh, wear my heart upon my sleeve), and George Orwell’s works (Big Brother). But the number of idioms in this category is not on a par with that of in Chinese.* This is because, I extrapolate, English ch